Collection Information

Summary: An interview of Robert Powell Coggins conducted 1985 September 26, by Liza Kirwin, for the Archives of American Art.

Coggins speaks of his family and educational background; growing up in Marietta, Georgia; his first purchase of English portraits and Dutch still lifes; his decision to concentrate on collecting Southern American art; his interest in various southern painters including Willie M. Chambers, Nell Choate Jones, Elliott Daingerfield, and Thomas Addison Richards; efforts to refine and expand the collection by acquiring art that captures the "tranquil, slow, relaxed politeness of the true South"; and his continuing struggle to be accepted by art historians and museum officials.

Biographical/Historical Note

Robert Powell Coggins is a physician and art collector from Marietta, Georgia.

Provenance

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Funding

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

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Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Robert Powell Coggins, 1985 September 26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

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